Painting is the most common form of decoration or renovation that is carried out, in particular at the DIY end of the market, with little or no expertise and specialist equipment required in order to successfully complete the task.
However, for non-professional painters, one of the difficulties commonly experienced is in handling the paint itself, for example pouring the paint from the original paint can into a painting tray or smaller container to allow the paint to be handled in practical volume. However, pouring the paint directly from the original paint can often results in a number of difficulties, both in terms of directing the paint being poured into the container or other vessel receiving the paint, in addition to the inevitable drips of paint that run down the outside as the paint can is righted at the end of the pouring process. These drips can often migrate down the full height of the paint can and pool at the lower rim, which can lead to the inadvertent transfer of paint onto any surface onto which the paint can is placed.
There exist numerous devices, whether retro-fittable or directly integrated into the paint can, which attempt to address this issue by providing a spout about the mouth of the can in order to facilitate controlled pouring from the can and to prevent such dripping once pouring has been completed. Most of these devices are not without issues, primarily as the user is required to separately purchase the retro-fittable spout, and once used the spout must then be stored separately to the paint can between uses, and as a result is often difficult to locate when next required. If the spout remains in position on the exterior of the can after use while also allowing the lid of the paint can to be closed, the spout can nevertheless make it difficult to store the can, in particular preventing other cans or the like from being stacked on top of a can having such a spout fixed thereon.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the above-mentioned problems.